


anywhere with you feels right

by adamantine



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, Sheith New Year, this fic doesn't give a shit about season 8
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-10-02 02:57:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17256317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adamantine/pseuds/adamantine
Summary: The comms in Shiro’s quarters go off, jolting him awake. It’s not the quiet ping of his personal communicator but the incessant buzzing of Atlas’s official built-in communication system. It’s not used lightly, especially not when Shiro is meant to be asleep. The comms officers are under strict orders not to wake him unless it’s an emergency.The alarm system is silent. Shiro tenses. It’s not an emergency for the Atlas—it's an emergency for Shiro alone.HAPPY NEW SHEITH! I mean year~ This was written for Day 1 (New Year’s) of "Sheith New Year" though in all honesty, it could fit for Day 3 (Family) too.





	anywhere with you feels right

**Author's Note:**

> there's a lot of talk about having kids in this, but I left any actual "how would sheith have kids????" up to you
> 
> also, if voltron is going to macross it's going to FULLY macross aka earth is going to build a bunch of IGFs and explore the universe, duh

The comms in Shiro’s quarters go off, jolting him awake. It’s not the quiet ping of his personal communicator but the incessant buzzing of Atlas’s official built-in communication system. It’s not used lightly, especially not when Shiro is meant to be asleep. The comms officers are under strict orders not to wake him unless it’s an emergency.

The alarm system is silent. Shiro tenses. It’s not an emergency for the Atlas—it's an emergency for Shiro alone.

The absence in his bed is suddenly a gaping wound.

Keith.

_Oh god, Keith_.

“Admiral Shirogane speaking.” He thinks he does a good job of keeping the fear out of his voice. He reaches for the light switch and panics when nothing happens. His right arm is still powered down for the night.

“Sorry to wake you, Admiral. Eos Actual is requesting to speak with you.”

Shiro’s sluggish brain takes a moment to process the overnight comm officer’s words. The IGF-Eos is on Rastracore, a small, newly independent jungle planet in the Vultrix system. The Eos’s mission is simple: establish contact and offer Coalition membership. It’s unlikely to need Atlas’s help which means this call is personal.

His right arm glows and settles by his side. “Patch her through.”

“Yes sir.” The line clicks, signaling that the Eos’s captain has been transferred.

“This is Atlas Actual.”

“Hello, Admiral. I hope you don’t mind the call. I imagine it’s late for you going by Coalition Standard Time, but I’m planetside on Rastracore and it’s a bit difficult to sync our schedules.”

Shiro tries to keep his tone pleasant. “I’m always happy to take your call Captain, though I’m curious to why you’re contacting me through official channels. Have you lost my personal comm signal?”

“Do you have any idea how much fun it was to say ‘This is Eos Actual requesting to speak with Atlas Actual’? That’s 90% of why I accepted this promotion. I could practically hear your comm officer shit himself knowing he had to wake you up.”

Shiro pinches the bridge of his nose. It’s times like these he’s reminded that Veronica is, in fact, Lance’s sister. He’ll need to apologize to the comm officer on overnight duty later. “While I understand your enthusiasm, please look at it from my point of view. I received a call on an official channel after hours. Generally speaking, a call like that doesn’t bring good news.” He doesn’t add that his husband is currently away on a diplomatic mission since he’s sure Veronica already knows his (Acxa is on the same mission) and can put the pieces together.

“Ahhh. Now I get why you’re so cranky.”

Shiro sighs. “I’m not cranky. I’m just understandably worried.”

Veronica tone loses the teasing. “I spoke to Acxa earlier. The Blades are fine. Their mission is smooth sailing. I’m sorry if I worried you. I swear I have a good reason for calling.”

“And that reason is?” His voice comes out a bit strained. Maybe he  _is_  a little cranky.

“Little Alfor arrived early! At least, earlier than was estimated for a human-Altean hybrid. Lance asked me to reach out to everyone to let them know. As you can imagine, he’s a bit preoccupied.”

Shiro jumps out of bed at the news. Alfor is Allura and Lance’s first child, a happy accident. He wasn’t due for another phoeb. For this, he can forgive Veronica almost giving him a heart attack. “That’s amazing! Send our congratulations to them.”

“There’s going to be uh—well, it’s not a baptism but it’s kind of similar? It’s an Altean ceremony. There’s a specific word for it in Old Altean, but I can’t even speak Modern Altean and I’d rather not butcher the pronunciation. Translated it’s a ‘naming ceremony’ but the word for ‘name’ means more than just a literal name. ‘Soul’ or ‘essence’ might be more appropriate from how I understand it. Lance and Allura are hoping you and Keith can be there for it.”

“Of course we’ll be there. We wouldn’t miss it for the universe.”

“Good. I’ll send you the details once I can speak with Lance again. Did you know it’s the New Deca-Phoeb on Altea? Coran says it’s a very auspicious birth quintant in Altean culture.”

Shiro smiles. It’s a fitting birthdate for the child. “I did not know that.”

“Coran really starts to ramble when he's nervous. Anyway, I should let you sleep. See you soon, Admiral.”

After signing off, Shiro sends a message to Keith, letting him know the news though he’s most likely already heard it from Acxa.

Shiro’s happy for Lance and Allura and the thought of seeing them soon puts him in a good mood. He falls asleep with a light heart.

 

❖

Keith pulls into Atlas’s hangar bay. They’re taking his personal ship to Altea. Shiro’s taken time off from the Atlas while Keith’s informed the Blades he’ll be away for a bit.

The moment the ship’s hatch door opens Shiro is off running. He’s pulling Keith into a hug before Keith even steps off his ship.

He lifts Keith into the air (it’s not easy to do—Keith is heavier than he looks) and spins him around and around, Keith’s braid whipping behind him until he’s dizzy from more than just Keith’s presence.

“Shiro!” The protest is feeble; there’s a smile in his voice.

Some of the newer crew members gape at them but Shiro doesn’t care. He’s off duty and even if he wasn’t he’s not going to hide how much he’s missed his husband.

“Are you going to ever let me down, or no?”

Shiro relents and stares at Keith’s face instead. “I’ve missed you.” Shiro’s memories can never do Keith justice. He’s so much more beautiful in person.

“Me too.” He leans up and gives Shiro a chaste kiss.

Shiro takes the contact like a starving man. He pulls Keith close, chases his lips and slips past his defenses to deepen the kiss into something filthy. He doesn’t care that they’re still in the hangar bay with multiple witnesses. Part of missing Keith is missing  _this_.

Shiro pepper kisses along Keith’s jaw. There’s a light scruffiness there, unnoticeable unless someone was looking closely, or in Shiro’s case, grazing their lips against it. The usually clean-shaven Keith isn’t—he must have been in a rush to get here.

“Shiro,” Keith whines, “I need to unpack.” He tilts his head, exposing his neck. Shiro takes it as an invitation. “We need to leave soon.”

“Sure, sure.” Shiro notices he’s said nothing about the public space they’re in; it makes something inside Shiro smug. “Where’s the wo—”

Shiro’s attempts to ravish Keith in Atlas’s hangar bay are interrupted by a flashing blue light and several hundred pounds of space wolf crashing into his side.

 

❖

The naming ceremony is beautiful even if Shiro doesn’t understand it. It’s conducted in Old Altean and his translator doesn’t know what to make of the language. Baby Alfor is placed into a fountain of water, much like an Earth baptism, but then the water begins to glow, along with the baby’s Altean marks. This is a good sign apparently—it causes a lot of cheering and in Coran’s case, tears of joy.

The reception after is a smaller affair. The paladins, Lance’s family and friends, and a few other familiar faces like Romelle wish the couple their congratulations and bestow gifts on baby Alfor. The gift pile suggests Alfor will be a much loved and much spoiled child. Shiro’s glad for it.

“Let me guess, you got my son a sword. No—a knife.” Lance squints at the bag in Keith’s hands.

Keith rolls his eyes. “I’m not going to give a baby a sword. That’s more of a first birthday gift.”

“Do not give my son a sword for his first birthday.” Lance points a finger accusingly at Keith; baby Alfor fusses in Lance’s arms at the movement.

Keith hands the bag to Allura. “It’s customary for the Galra to give gifts to a child meant to influence their nature. Lance isn’t completely off—weapons are the usual gift. But in this case, I went for something a little less traditional.”

Keith settles at Shiro’s side as Allura opens the gift. Shiro wraps his left arm around Keith’s waist and pulls him closer.

Allura finds the stuffed bunny first. “That’s from me,” Shiro says. It’s not as impressive as Keith’s gift but he hopes the baby enjoys it anyway, even if it’s just to chew on it.

“It’s adorable,” Allura says, “I’m guessing it’s some sort of Earth creature?”

“It’s a rabbit,” says Lance. “It kind of looks like you, Shiro.” The bunny is white with floppy ears and a fluffy tail; it’s soft all over, perfect for a child.

Keith elbows him lightly. “Told you.” Shiro refuses to acknowledge any claims of resemblance.

Allura unfurls a blanket next. Keith commissioned it months ago. Its base color is a light blue with a cartoonish pattern of a feast in progress stitched on in darker shades. The style reminds Shiro of a Greek vase, but much cuter and with significantly more aliens.

“I’m not sure if you’ve heard of the Feast of Orzaker before?” Keith asks.

Allura looks thoughtful. “I’m not sure. I wasn’t the best history student.”

“Ooh, I’ve heard of that legend,” says Coran. “That’s a very fitting gift. I take it that’s the scene depicted on the blanket?”

Keith nods. “History says the Galra were fighting an endless war on Nalquod when abruptly the Galra general Orzaker called for a ceasefire. The people of Nalquod were understandably wary. Orzaker had to be up to something. Still, they decided to take a leap of faith and agreed to meet him. Imagine their surprise when instead of walking into a trap they walked into a feast. Orzaker’s desire for peace was genuine. The war was taking a toll on the Galra but their pride had prevented them from retreating. Orzaker managed to convince them otherwise. What followed was one of the few periods of peace between Daibazaal and Nalquod. I thought it was a fitting moment of history given that the Blue Paladin was from Nalquod.”

“Oh, it’s lovely Keith. It’s a very thoughtful gift.” Allura runs her hand down the blanket, admiring it. “Thank you.”

Keith beams, clearly pleased his gift has been received warmly. It fills Shiro with a deep affection that demands an outlet. He kisses the top of Keith’s head.

“Hmph,” Lance scoffs, “Don’t think you’ve won. I’m going to start preparing a gift for your future kid. You just wait—it’s going to be a million times more thoughtful. You’ll be sorry then!”

“What are you talking about?” Shiro asks.

“You know, when you guys have a kid? I’m going to get them a waaaaay better present. It’s going to knock your socks off.”

“When we—when we what now?” Shiro stutters.

Keith doubles over. Shiro isn’t sure if he’s coughing, choking, or laughing—maybe it’s a combination of all three.

“I take it kids are not something you guys have discussed,” Lance says awkwardly.

Shiro’s entire face is on fire. He looks like a human version of the red lion.

“Well, if you ever adopt or—whatever, I don’t know, I’m definitely going to have a better gift?” He looks almost as embarrassed as Shiro feels.

“Just say ‘thank you’, Lance,” Allura says, “You’re going to kill Shiro at our son’s naming at this rate.”

“Yeah, fine. Thank you, Keith. You too, Shiro.”

 

❖

Later, much later, after the day is over and Keith and Shiro are curled up in a guest room bed, Shiro dares to ask the question.

“Do you want kids?”

Keith is sprawled on top of him lazy and content and covered in sweat. At Shiro’s question, his eyes snap to attention. He searches Shiro’s expression.

“I like children,” he says. It’s not an answer.

Shiro brushes errant strands of Keith’s hair. His braid is a mess but that it’s held up at all after Shiro’s tugging is commendable. “I didn’t want kids, before. It didn’t seem fair to bring a child into this world knowing I wouldn’t be there for them in the future.”

Keith’s expression is soft and adoring. A hand gently traces Shiro’s face. “And now?”

Shiro imagines for a moment what a child of Keith’s would be like. Cute and fierce and utterly loveable. Or maybe with Keith’s experiences he’d want to adopt an older child, give them the family he never got to have. They’d be loved and cherished by Keith. “I’d have a hundred kids with you. A thousand.”

Keith laughs. It’s Shiro’s favorite sound in the universe. He moves his head to kiss Keith’s palm.

Keith’s other hand wanders under the blankets. “A hundred little Shiros, huh? We’d better get started then,” he teases.

Shiro flips them over before his wandering hand can go any further. He pins it above Keith’s head using his prosthetic arm. “No, it’s going to be a thousand little Keiths.”

Keith rolls his hips; Shiro bites back a moan. Keith’s endless stamina is going to be the death of him one of these days. Not that he’s complaining. It’s a good way to die.

“Hurry up then,” Keith says.

“Yes, sir.” Shiro is happy to oblige his wish.

**Author's Note:**

> s8 sure happened, huh? but who gives a shit, right? actually, I started writing about 543534545 angst fics but in the end, I couldn't finish any of them so here I am, doing this instead.


End file.
